More Anxiety in Eastern Europe

Yesterday I discussed Bush's ecstatic reception in Albania as well as the historical circumstances partially underlying it. Now we're seeing more rumblings from the Balkans.

On the one hand, Bulgaria has asked to be covered by the proposed US missile shield. As a Soviet satellite, the government in Sofia is all too familiar with the Kremlin meddling in their neighborhood. Ironically, Bulgaria was created from Russian spoils of war in 1877 when Tsarist armies attempted to dismember the feeble Ottoman Empire. The Russians then came close to entering Constantinople itself, which would have produced a war with Austria and Britain as well; the former because it considered the Balkans its backyard, the latter because they feared Russian control of the Dardanelles and a warm-water port would threaten their lifeline to India via Suez (for much the same reason, Russia and Britain played the "Great Game" in Afghanistan).

Speaking of artificial state constructs (which Afghanistan most certainly is), Serbia reacted indignantly to Bush's support for an independent Kosovo; this is the same response that the international community has heard from Putin. The present warmth between the two states (at a time when few can tolerate Putin) is an extension of a rather long-standing friendship. Prior to the overthrow of the tsars, Russian often pursued a pan-Slavic policy, attempting to bring all Slavic peoples (including Serbs) under the double-headed Romanov eagle. Although that ethnic motive partially disappeared with the rise of the USSR (which thought far more globally than merely the Balkans), a large swath of the region - formerly under Austro-Hungarian rule - was reconstituted into Yugoslavia ("The Land of the South Slavs"). See where this is all going? The two feel a certain kinship. In contrast, Kosovo, which the Serbs claim as their own, is populated primarily by ethnic Albanians, thought to be descended from ancient Illyrians (which also contributes to Bush's reception).

What's unfortunate about all of this is that the Balkan Peninsula is a region the rest of the world ignores at their own risk, so often has it been a flashpoint for international events. But it's rarely on the media's radar screen, and only is at present because of the President's visit (the additional fact that some states, such as Bulgaria, are enthusiastic allies makes covering them especially unappealing to the MSM). Despite this, developments there are worthy of study: the region seems to finally be moving past its bitter sectarianism but simultaneously it remains ripe for Putin's meddling, especially if it is ignored by Western public opinion.